Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Workers at Pathfinders Milwaukee petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last week for a union election to join Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 39.
Organizing under the name Pathfinders Employee Collective, more than 70% of staff have signed union authorization cards. Workers at the nonprofit perform a number of essential roles supporting homeless and runaway youth in the area. On Monday, workers rallied in front of Pathfinders’ offices to demand voluntary recognition so they can begin bargaining a contract with better safety standards and protections, higher wages, organizational transparency and greater decision-making power.
“Staff working conditions and impactful, trauma-informed client services are intrinsically tied together,” Rachel Janiak, a street outreach coordinator, said in an Local 39 press release. “If staff come to work feeling unsupported, or unsafe, it can lead to burnout…that takes away from the consistency and support our youth are searching for.”
Pathfinders Development Specialist Michael Clouthier added, “Pathfinders has always prided themselves on their ‘Nothing for us without us’ philosophy toward programming. Now that the workers are unionizing, we can show the community that we advocate for our youth while holistically practicing the tenets of a trauma-informed, empowerment-focused organization!”